Konrad Wallenrod: An Historical Poem

by Adam Mickiewicz

"Konrad Wallenrod: An Historical Poem" by Adam Mickiewicz is a narrative poem written in 1828. Set in fourteenth-century Lithuania, it tells the story of a Lithuanian pagan raised by enemy Teutonic Knights who rises to become their Grand Master. When a mysterious minstrel awakens his heritage, he must choose between his adopted world and his true identity. Written during Mickiewicz's exile in St. Petersburg, the poem became a rallying cry for Polish resistance against Russian rule.